Former Blue Jason De Vos says new Town loan signing Jimmy Bullard is the craziest player he’s ever played with, but is also one of the best. De Vos spent 18 months alongside Bullard at Wigan.

The Canadian told TWTD: “Jimmy is one of the craziest players I’ve ever played with. He’s just a bundle of energy and everybody’s seen the clips on Soccer AM and elsewhere. That’s just how Jimmy is, he is the life of the party, a real joker but underneath all that he’s a nice guy.

“He’s great in the dressing room, he’s always good for a laugh, he keeps everybody light and it has to be said, he’s a tremendous player. Jimmy was one of the fittest guys I ever played with.”

During De Vos’s time at Portman Road Matt Richards and Ian Westlake were described as having “three lungs” by then-boss Joe Royle due to their stamina, however, De Vos says Bullard would leave them standing: “There’s nothing to him, he’s maybe 10st dripping wet, but the boy can run! And he’s a good player as well, he’s a good footballer, he’s got a good football brain.

“When Jimmy’s on song he’s almost unplayable. He can drive you up the wall, he can drive defenders batty at times, but if I had a choice, I’d have him in my team any day of the week.”

The former central defender says the on-loan Hull man is just what’s required at Portman Road: “When Paul got the job at Ipswich and signed Jimmy, I thought it was a great signing for the club, he’s exactly what the team needs. He’ll keep the mood light in the dressing room, he’s always joking around with the boys.

“You need that kind of unity in the dressing room where the players are all together and all for one. Perhaps that was missing under the previous manager. Jimmy’s a good signing and, if he can stay healthy, he’ll be a great acquisition for the club.”

Photo: Action Images

clive_baker added 16:33 - Feb 3 Jason De Vos was a quality defender and remains an absolute favourite among town fans!! Pleased to see he still cares how we're doing!
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Sospiri added 16:33 - Feb 3 Didn't people used to say this sort of thing about Paul Gascoigne?
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Big_Foot_Blue added 16:34 - Feb 3 Legend and talks sense! Woudlnt mind him down hiere on the coaching staff one day is his time with the Canada youth set up ever comes to an end
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Garv added 16:35 - Feb 3 JASON DE VOS! BEAST.
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KangarooBlue added 16:41 - Feb 3 Imagine Mac and De Vos playing alongside each other, that would of been quite possibly one of our best defensive partnerships
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Wallingford_Boy added 16:42 - Feb 3 Sign JB up perm, don't care if it does break our wage structure!!
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dobbie73 added 16:45 - Feb 3 Isn't it nice to see a sense of fun and happiness around the club again?
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LollITFC added 16:48 - Feb 3 De Vos was a top player for us, some of the fans used to get on his back, but oh how we missed him when he left .... nice to hear from him.
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Ipswich24 added 17:05 - Feb 3 kangarooblue would of been our slowest defence ever too lol
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fourth added 17:19 - Feb 3 The human dimension...getting out of the trenches...working and playing with real human beings...recognising the developing effect of joy....a certain spirit which we all need to have in our lives to make the best of ourselves...there is latent greatness in all of us, and I feel that there is plenty of talent here which could be world beaters. Early days and we need to think (as always for GOOD things) LONG TERM!

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nysully added 17:21 - Feb 3 @kangarooblue - you must have been born after 1985, you missed some world class partnerships
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suffolkpoker added 17:42 - Feb 3 De vos is allways welcome in ipswich in my book... quality centre back
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jas0999 added 18:31 - Feb 3 It was a real shame when De Vos retired. McAuley probably a good replacement, but other centre halves have struggled to come close.
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Suffolk_n_Good added 18:38 - Feb 3 Oh how we'd love a young Jason De Vos!!!
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ThatMuhrenCross added 19:08 - Feb 3 @nysully - Maybe there were some good central defensive pairings back the, but I would hardly call them world class. The Butchers, the Mills', or the Burleys would never have got into the Barcelona, Manchester United or even Arsenal teams of today. In fact they probably would get into the Wigan team at best. The fact of the matter is, players were nowhere near as fit back then, the lack of foreign players in English football meant that they were up against far more inferior attacks, and the coaching techniques will have been nowhere near as good. Take Liverpool for example. They've just signed Carroll and Suarez. Those players will be ten times as good as Dalglish and Rush would ever have been. George Best? Pele? Maradona? Hardly Messi, Ronaldo and Iniesta, are they.

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CraigForrestGateau added 19:39 - Feb 3 Can't agree with you there Muhren. Just my opinion. I agree that fitness is nothing like todays players but you can't beat just pure world class talent. If you are comparing to todays standards fair enough. But I think if you had a Burley or Butcher playing in todays game, they would easily be able to cut it. Of course if Butcher laid of the beers a bit! De Vos, great comments from a great player, always sorry to see you go. Jimmy Bullard is what this club has been missing for some years now. Great talent, but also doesn't take everything too seriously and enjoys the game for what it is, the best game in the world!

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ClassyIpswichLass added 21:08 - Feb 3 I can't think of a more knowledgeable person in the game than Jason De Vos and we should listen to his words of wisdom: "He can drive you up the wall, he can drive defenders batty at times, but if I had a choice, I'd have him in my team any day of the week". This is clearly a message to our corporate executives ME and SC to shell out the necessary and grab Jimmy while he's out of favour at Hull before Barca swoop and take him away from under our noses. Funny how he said nothing about SC and ME, eh? I tell you, this article could easily have been titled: "Ex-Cap'n Jase warns of choppy waters for the good ship ITFC unless ME and SC are forced to walk the plank"

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warwickblue added 21:50 - Feb 3 I reckon that De Vos had a headed-clearance rate that never fell below 90 - 95% in any game he played. I can't remember fans getting on his back particularly as one post on here suggests - or do I have selective memory? I thought he did everything that could be asked of a player in that position, solid if unspectactular, good positional sense and not much got past him - particularly in the air. May have been a tad slow - is that what people used to whinge about? If so, then things must have been SO much better then than in the last year or so.

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Raedwald_625 added 22:33 - Feb 3 'Warrior' was Magilton's description of JDV ThatMuhrenCross - refers to his ManU days, doesn't it? - if so, shame on you. BTW your comments show a severe lack of football understanding - just my opinion mind. Prediction: Town 2 Blunts 1
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Blue041273 added 22:35 - Feb 3 Hi there Muhren Its interesting that you have chosen an Ipswich legend as your ID. He was undeniably one of the best players to ever grace the PR turf. But would he crack it in today's premiership? I would suggest not. It's unreal to compare players of past days with the current scenario. Players of different genearations cannot be compared. I cite Allan Hunter as an example. He was an outstanding player of his generation but as I am sure he himself would admit. he would struggle in the modern game. However he will no doubt be comforted by the fact that he is immortalised in East Anglia while successors not fit to lace his boots will have pocketed more money per week than he was paid in a year. Those of us with long memories recognise this fact and perhaps understand the the problems with Norris et al.

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TractorRoyNo1 added 00:21 - Feb 4 what a load of tosh, you'll be telling us next that Ali wouldn't have beaten Haye ThatMuhrenCross added 19:08 - Feb 3 @nysully - Maybe there were some good central defensive pairings back the, but I would hardly call them world class. The Butchers, the Mills', or the Burleys would never have got into the Barcelona, Manchester United or even Arsenal teams of today. In fact they probably would get into the Wigan team at best. The fact of the matter is, players were nowhere near as fit back then, the lack of foreign players in English football meant that they were up against far more inferior attacks, and the coaching techniques will have been nowhere near as good. Take Liverpool for example. They've just signed Carroll and Suarez. Those players will be ten times as good as Dalglish and Rush would ever have been. George Best? Pele? Maradona? Hardly Messi, Ronaldo and Iniesta, are they.

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